Session 5: Positioning

It is at the heart of marketing strategy.

It is the desired brand meaning.

It helps guide marketing strategy by clarifying what a brand is about, how it is unique and why should consumers purchase/use the brand.

It is captured in a positioning statement.

It builds competitive advantage.

a strategic internal statement used to guide tactical executions, by answering the question of who the target and competition are, what main value it offers, and how.

Visualization of differences between brands.

A visual representation along two axes of what consumers think about each brand.

It Shows consumers’ perception, not the desired brand meaning.

The value gained from the positioning map depends on the choice/quality of axes.

1. Target: Who is the target or for which occasion

2. Competitive set: Relative to whom?

3. Unique value proposition: What unique benefit does it offer? What value?

4. Reasons to believe: Why and how?

With PoP (point of parity) brand can build vertical differentiation (stress superiority in PoPs).

Category PoPs: necessary associations to be a legitimate and credible player within a category, important when a brand wants to extend to different category

Competitive PoPs: trying to break even on important associations of the competition

With PoD (Point of Difference) brand can build horizontal differentiation (focusing on unique attributes).

• may be based on any type of attribute, benefit or value association

Relevance: refers to consumers, must fulfill a need that they have

Differentiation: refers to competitors

Credibility: refers to the company itself, VP has to be believable, and needs to correspond with company values